Monday seems to be the day that I update this running dialogue of life with the Lyon's here in California. This weekend was hectic and harried and I wish I had a few more days to rest from my weekend. David played in his second JV basketball game on Friday night. The regular center had twisted his ankle and David, as is his wont, stepped in from his small forward position to pick up the slack and he had his best overall game since he began competitive basketball. He scored 15 of his team's 61 points, had eleven rebounds and scored a key three pointer in the second quarter to put his team in the lead to stay. David is a natural leader and his coaches love him because he is never afraid to take on a new position or to have the team lean on him when times are tight. It is a joy to watch him grow and mature as an athlete and as a man.

Darla and I had a little incident with the new SUV this weekend. When we returned home on Friday night from David's game and a delicious Chinese Food meal, and as I was entering the house with my hands full of stuff, I accidentally hit the button for the alarm on the truck. It began honking and flashing and generally turning a quiet neighborhood into South Central LA. The sound of that alarm in a closed garage was deafening! I scrambled to turn the blasted commotion off and hit every button on my key fob to no avail. I finally inserted the key into the ignition and the cacophony finally subsided. The next morning I had some work to catch up on as I'm leaving for Santa Barbara this afternoon. Darla and the boys decided to dress the house for Christmas and hang ornaments on the tree, etc. (Actually, Darla decided and they had no choice in the operation). She went into the garage and opened the electric garage door opener and screamed. My office is just down the hall from the garage and I bolted out to see what was wrong. Apparently, in my frenzy the night before to silence the deafening alarm, I'd hit the button for the pop-up window on the rear of the Explorer and it had opened and as the garage door raised, a bolt head caught the edge of the casing of the glass door and tore a hole right through the casing. The hole is at the bottom of the door and is about the size of my thumb...but I will get it repaired. We have a $500 deductible and they will likely have to replace the whole window. I'll take it in when I get back from SB, but I'm guessing $1,800. I'll let you know. This, by the way, is all my fault. I've already drawn a line on the wall, so that I can be sure to clear the garage door if the hatch window ever accidentally opens again. I guess I'm closing the barn door a little late.

Saturday night we ordered pizza and watched two movies, "The Rookie" starring Dennis Quaid and "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Motherhood" or something like that. The boys and I enjoyed The Rookie, a baseball flick and endured the YA YA show, which is the epitomy of a chick flick. Not bad, but a little too much whining for me. If I want to hear whining, I'll just bring out my bath towel and show it to Darla. I have yet to replace it. While we were watching the movie, Darla got up to turn on the Christmas lights on the tree and kicked over my soda, which was sitting on the floor at the base of the sofa. She let me know what she thought of my choice of placement of my beverage as she mopped up the mess. Again, 100% my fault.

We went to church yesterday prior to my settling in for a day of NFL football on satellite. We adopted a young boy as his Christmas Angel. His name is Josiah Pete , he's 11 years old and lives in Stockton. His father is incarcerated in the state penal system and I only ask you to pray for this young man and hope that he can break the chain of crime that envelops his family. We are buying him a winter coat and some action figures for Christmas.

Things are good with us here in Nor Cal. The weather is awesome. Daniel continues to grow. He is a backup center on his eighth grade basketball team and has a gas powered scooter that has become an obsession of his. He tools to school daily on it..actually riding it to his Grandma's house, who lives close to his junior high and walking to school from there. His Grandma likes it because she gets to see him every day. Daniel likes it, because he looks cool on his scooter.

Well, that's it. Stay calm during the holiday season and as stress enters your life, remember that Jesus Christ died for us, was hanged on a cross and he rose again and sits in heaven as our Saviour. Get to know him, he's the best and most loyal friend you'll ever know.